I have lots of friends who grew up playing the original, but I somehow missed it during the NES era. I still really enjoyed the new Battletoads anyway. I mean: Really, really enjoyed it. The art style is great, the characters (love the personalities they gave to the toads and the Dark Queen) are great, the music is GREAT. There are so many game styles packed into this, seriously it's like thirty games in one and some of them are pretty challenging which makes them extra satisfying to complete.
Highly recommended. It's just a blast.